The cause of Sophie's APD diagnosis is unknown, but her audiologist believes the overuse of noise-cancelling headphones, which Sophie wears for up to five hours a day, could have a part to play.

So fucking stupid...

Kid grew up on a quiet farm in the countryside, then she moved to London and probably 100+ student plus lectures.

It's not that noise cancelling headphones prevented her from developing normally, she developed in an environment like what we evolved to handle.

Then she got thrown into a cacophony of sound that is one of the planets largest/busiest cities...

And they act like she is the problem and not noise pollution?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-024-00642-5

Noise pollution is fucking a lot of us up, and people who grew up with it are used to it, but that doesn't stop the negative consequences of it. Someone that never had to deal with it is obviously going to have what looks like a sudden onset of a condition, but the person is fine.

The environment is the problem.

The cause of Sophie's APD diagnosis is unknown, but her audiologist believes the overuse of noise-cancelling headphones, which Sophie wears for up to five hours a day, could have a part to play.

Other audiologists agree, saying more research is needed into the potential effects of their prolonged use.

That looks to me like, "audiologists have no bloody clue where this issue is coming from, and are therefore throwing shit at the wall in the hope that something will stick."

Article literally starts off just describing my ADHD related auditory processing difficulties, which is interesting for their claims because I don't often listen to music in the first place because of it.

The only thing I use my headphones for are podcasts and audio books that I have rewind because I forgot I was listening to something.

My knee jerk response as a result is that it's probably just younger people being more comfortable admitting something is wrong and looking for an explanation from the wrong people. They note that it is prevalent in aneurotypical people but don't seem to have questioned that maybe these people simply aren't diagnosed properly.

It's especially interesting that they chose a woman as the focus for the article, with women being demonstrably underdiagnosed in particular.

I am glad to see us respect our link-aggregation heritage of ignoring the article and starting heated discussions based on what we infer from the headline. 😂

It also seems that the headline currently on the article is different and switches out clickbait tactics from misleading omission to absurd pearl-clutching: "Are noise-cancelling headphones to blame for young people's hearing problems?" If you combine them, you get something closer to actual content of the article.

Bad title. The article examines whether specifically noise-cancelling headphones may be involved in listening issues.

Maybe if they weren't all in tiny cramped apartments with paper-thin walls and multiple roommates they wouldn't need to wear headphones all the time.

Also, voice chat doesn't work very well with speakers and microphone without a lot feedback.

but her audiologist believes the overuse of noise-cancelling headphones, which Sophie wears for up to five hours a day, could have a part to play.

Me, wearing my noise-cancelling headphones for 10+ hours a day ....

I'm not buying it that it is headphone-related. I wear headphones nearly all of the time, I've listened to music loudly for years on end, I've had to deal with loud screeches, loud noise wherever I go, lived and worked.

It is totally an environmental thing. Plus, the article had already wrapped up what the problem was and a normal hearing test came back negative.

But they haaaaaad to find a reason in the next line. Just had to.

I am 29 and I already have minuscule hearing loss (if results of the last hearing test were factual), and I don't really listen to music/podcasts on headphones that much either.

I am also one of these people who still has regular PC speakers instead of gaming headsets or whatever.

Did the boomboxes-next-to-heads and the walkmans of the '80s and discmans of the '90s not count? I think a lot of game boy users also used headhpones.

I actually didn't use them that much at all, but I still have trouble hearing with background noise. Noise-cancelling headphones have actually been an amazing thing in my life because (a) it helps overstimulation and anxiety and (b) it actually helps me hear someone talking to me because it filters out the other stuff. I suspect my problems are a combination of mostly-neurological (ADHD and probably (though not officially) ASD) and maybe impacted by loud concerts and general aging-related stuff. I can still hear really high-pitched sounds and the like whereas many of my peers around my age and younger can't as well, but it's all mud to me when there's a lot of sound.

So wait, I'm not just a grumpy old man who doesn't like a lot of noise, this is actually a disorder?

Honestly though it's an interesting question and I wonder if this is just the "natural state." I really started to feel it after I went RVing for a year. It's a relatively recent (in the overall span of humanity) development that people would be in groups large enough to make this be an issue.

Maybe try McDonald's workers for further research, if it's the constant and annoying beeping of machines. Or any Japanese store where you get 3 songs blaring at the same time from different aisles, then there's some offering on a seperate stand, of course also blinking and begging for attention with additional sounds... I believe you can simulate 10 years of UK longterm exposure with a one day trip to Japan.

As the world become more and more noisy. And people become more a more shitty with regards of doing noise without care about how it affects others. ANC become a necessity for some people.

I knew earphones made you lose your hearing faster but headphones causing issues too? Guess the only safe option are speakers :/

I pretty much never go outside without headphones now. I haven't noticed any problems with comprehending speech or sounds like described here. Sensory issues (as in being easily overwhelmed) were long gone before I got addicted to headphones. However, mother complains I am constantly speaking too loud without even recognizing it, and blames it on my hearing loss. However, I KNOW my hearing is good, because I can still hear a subtle shrill sound of a power supply on the other end of the room, even loudly enough to be bothered by it! I wonder if this could be because of headphones, that just feels peculiar.

I had a pair of noise cancelling headphones when I was in like seventh or eighth grade, but when they broke, I just never ended up replacing them, and I've never had noise cancelling headphones ever since.

WHAT?